please empty your brain below
How well do you reckon the flowerbeds and other green spaces will hold up over the next month? I'm going in early September and it looks as if I'll be catching the park at its worst.

swirlythingy | Homepage | 03.08.12 - 12:37 a.m. | #

I've heard a lot about resales. How realistic is this in practice? If I hang around outside of the Aquatics Centre tomorrow evening do I stand any hope of getting hold of tickets?

James | 03.08.12 - 1:41 a.m. | #

Hi DG. Thanks for the great coverage. Do you have any info about the current situation re the selling of 'recycled' tickets for £5 at box offices inside the Park? That is, the resale of tickets for seats that have been vacated part-way through a session (e.g. where someone only stays for the first of two water polo matches). Cheers.

Richard | 03.08.12 - 1:44 a.m. | #

Oops, sorry James - your question didn't appear until I'd written and published my post!

Richard | 03.08.12 - 1:46 a.m. | #

Any hints on where to fill up water bottles? Is there more than one tap? None of the official maps give any hint where it/they is/are.
Thanks for the reports, hints & view... cheers

martxw | 03.08.12 - 2:50 a.m. | #

Drinking water taps are located adjacent to the Toilets. There tend to be 3 or 4 fountains at each place. I never encountered a significant queue (except at the White Water Centre, which had 2 taps for the whole venue!)

Dan | 03.08.12 - 6:55 a.m. | #

DG: What is the purpose of those large ancillary buildings between the park and the Olympic Village? I mean the big glass one with several 2012 logos. They are not marked at all on the official map.

Dan | 03.08.12 - 6:56 a.m. | #

Coming from the west, would it be quicker to get off at Stratford or Leyton (or indeed West Ham or Bow) for the hockey?

Is the Javelin a viable escape route?

Andrew | 03.08.12 - 7:25 a.m. | #

Re filling up water bottles. I was in one of the venues on Wednesday and the staff at a catering outlet were filling them up for people. Although I don't know if that's just inside venues where there are no drinking fountains.

Mark | Homepage | 03.08.12 - 7:48 a.m. | #

The ticket recycling hasn't ever been publicised anywhere, so any information about it is just rumour - but I read on a forum that the scheme won't be in operation from today due to the higher number of people in the park. Can't hurt try though!

dg writes: The Ticket recycling box office near the Velodrome has had very long queues for seemingly very few rewards.

martin | 03.08.12 - 7:55 a.m. | #

Have you found anywhere worth buying lunch from, or should I just bring my own?

Rob | 03.08.12 - 9:49 a.m. | #

Will the site be cycle friendly once the games are over ?.

| 03.08.12 - 10:22 a.m. | #

Resales: Queues were at least an hour long for resales when I was there on Tuesday so I didn't bother.
Water: On Tuesday, queues were about 5 minutes for water. There were taps at all of the toilets I went to.
Andrew: I found the Victoria Park gate to be an absolute pleasure to use - I had it all to myself when I went! Get of a Bow and walk through the backstreets to get there. I left the park via Stratford gate and it wasn't too bad.
Drinks: The casino at Westfield has a nice bar overlooking the Stratford entrance that was lovely and quiet when I went - in spite of the bars at ground level being packed to the rafters. There are no readmissions to the park, but it was a good spot for a final cheeky drink before heading home.

John Mac | 03.08.12 - 11:35 a.m. | #

RE Ticket Resales:
There are individual box offices for the various sports. Water Polo is behind the Orbit, Hockey and Basketball are both in the 'Street Market' near the Basketball entrance, and Handball is north of the Copper Box, although they may instead queue at the Copper Box gates. Ask before getting into a queue.

You have no chance of getting in to the swimming, cycling or athletics.

On Wednesday night, there were definitely tickets being returned for all four team sports, but not very many, and queues were over an hour. However, I observed a lot of people leaving between the two hockey games who didn't have their tickets scanned and cancelled. (There were a disgracefully large number of empty seats for the second game that night.) If they tighten this up, there should be a lot more seats available.

Note that because they are returns, it is much harder to get seats together for a large family group than for one or two people.

Colin | 03.08.12 - 12:09 p.m. | #

Latest from the park briefings this morning/general wandering...

Resales: Martin is correct there are no resales from today. While a shame, as we get towards the end of the group stages there are fewer sessions with two matches.

Food: I was pleasantly surprised by a chilli from The Street Market area on Tuesday, £6.50 for chilli, rice & nachos - not an amazing portion, but not bad.

Water Points: Dan is correct, but there are a few more (mostly quiet ones) hidden away. One set by the beacon before the bridge to Aquatics, one near the EDF pavilion behind the Visa ATM and another near the BBC studio in front of McDonalds.

Javelin: I've used it most days between 3pm and 5pm and there have been stacks of seats even near the start of the train.

Michael | 03.08.12 - 6:10 p.m. | #

Anyone any idea what entrance queues were like at 9am Friday for the park and the athletics stadium? We are coming on Wed and want to know how early we need to arrive for the 10am athletics session. We are planning to be in the stadium at 9.30.

Mick | 03.08.12 - 6:20 p.m. | #

Wentin vic park gate at 8.20, absolute breeze. Gate is very close to no 8 stop on old ford rd, which runs from beth green stn.

Martin | 03.08.12 - 7:26 p.m. | #

How do you get to use the mobility buggies? We'll be coming with a friend who is due to have a hip replacement in a couple of weeks, and she will need one to get to the basketball arena from Stratford and back.

Claire | 03.08.12 - 9:18 p.m. | #

It says that for the closing ceremony gates open at 5.30. Does that mean we cannot go into the park anywhere for a wander round before then? Ie to look at flowers, buy McDonalds etc?

Debster | Homepage | 04.08.12 - 12:10 a.m. | #

Also, does the paralympics get the same cauldron and flame? I heard that the cauldron was going to be dismantled and all the bits given to each country as per the opening ceremony.

Debster | Homepage | 04.08.12 - 12:35 a.m. | #

On the assumption that Resales are still available (which based on earlier comments is probably no longer the case) how does / did one get into the Park in the first place - are / were Resales effectively only available to people who already had previously bought tickets to another event in the Park, and to people who had bought one of the Park entry only tickets?

| 04.08.12 - 12:41 a.m. | #

Thanks to everyone who supplied information about resales (or 'ticket recycling' as the official terminology seems to have it). I checked at several points in the park today (Friday) and was told that resales had indeed been knocked on the head due to the increased number of people in the Park now that the athletics has started.

To the poster enquiring about who resales were available to, I believe it was the case that you had to already have a ticket for Park entry or an event - i.e. you already had to be in the Park.

Richard | 04.08.12 - 2:25 a.m. | #

Andrew,

Leyton is a viable option if you are going to the north of the Olympic Park e.g Hockey, Basketball , Velodrome etc. This option (to get to the Eton Manor Gate)is not mentioned in any TFL or Locog literature but is full of signposts. It takes about 15 minutes.

KissenMe | 04.08.12 - 6:57 a.m. | #

Do help to speed up queues at the drinking fountains by using all the taps on each stand - people only seem to use the central one for filling bottles. An exciting game of catch the water fountain can be had at the two side taps.

| 04.08.12 - 1:54 p.m. | #

We have tickets for the hockey at 8:30 on Tuesday. Any suggestions as to when we need to arrive at Stratford (Central Line) to be seated in good time?

peter cs | 04.08.12 - 5:43 p.m. | #











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